Bloodlettings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historical practice of deliberately drawing blood for therapeutic purposes, often believed to restore health or balance
2. The act of withdrawing blood from a person as a treatment for illness, often considered outdated in modern medicine
3. A ritualistic or medical procedure intended to reduce bodily fluids, historically used to treat various ailments

Etymology: "Bloodlettings" is simply the plural of "bloodletting," so it refers to more than one instance of the practice. The noun "bloodletting" is a compound of "blood" and "letting," where "letting" is the gerund of "bloodlet," a verb built from the same two elements: to let blood, that is, to allow it to flow out of the body. The older sense of "let" in this phrase is "to make something flow or leave," which survives in the phrase "to let off steam" and in the bloodletting practiced for centuries by physicians who believed that illness came from an excess of blood. Because the practice was so widespread, the plural form appears mainly when writers want to refer to separate episodes or sessions, such as a physician's repeated treatments across a patient's illness.

Synonyms: drainings, losses, sacrifices